Dear Editor:
Maryland’s future lies in green energy jobs. We can and must compete in the industries that will be the economic engine of the 21st Century – industries that will power Maryland while creating high-paying jobs and incidentally help save the planet.
This is why Governor Martin O’Malley should veto HB 1168.
This bill places a 15 month moratorium on the development of wind turbine energy within a 56 mile radius of the Naval Air Station, Patuxent River located in St. Mary’s County. That means an area of 9,852 square miles could not be used for wind farms. It would stall, and maybe permanently end, a wind energy project that has been in development across the Bay in Somerset County. Simply put, this proposed law is a job killer
The average family income for citizens in Somerset County is tens of thousands below that in other Maryland counties, and 3,892 families there live in poverty. The Great Bay Wind Energy Center is projected to produce revenues of $39 million annually, which would significantly help the struggling county. The project would stimulate the job market and further confirm Maryland’s commitment to the environment and to clean energy jobs.
The bill’s supporters argue that the turbines could interfere with sensitive radar testing performed at Pax River. But Pioneer Green, the developer of The Great Bay Wind Energy Center, has indicated that they would stop the wind turbines when base officials deem it necessary, particularly when they want to test their radar. Pax River and its neighbors have been working out issues that protect national security while making sure the base remains a good neighbor for more than seventy years now. There’s no reason we can’t find a workable compromise on this.
HB 1168 is not needed, and it would have terrible consequences. Somerset County needs economic development, and the entire country needs more sources of clean, renewable energy.
As a citizen of the Eastern Shore, and as a candidate for US Congress to represent District 1, I strongly urge our Governor to veto this bill.
John LaFerla
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